Ratcliffe says 'unpopular' decisions starting to pay off at Man United

Manchester United's co-owner Jim Ratcliffe (C) takes his seat for the English Premier League football match vs Manchester City at Old Trafford on January 17, 2026. [Darren Staples / AFP]

Jim Ratcliffe insists the difficult decisions that have made him "unpopular" at Manchester United are starting to pay off.

The United co-owner has made a string of controversial cuts to staff at Old Trafford since acquiring a stake in the Premier League club two years ago.

Ratcliffe has also sacked underachieving managers Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim during his turbulent reign heading United's football operations.

The British billionaire and fellow owners the Glazer family have been the target of protests from frustrated United fans this term.

But interim boss Michael Carrick has bought Ratcliffe some breathing space by overseeing a mini-revival with four wins and a draw to climb back into the race to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Ratcliffe, the founder of the INEOS chemicals group, was speaking to Sky News on Wednesday about politicians having to make unpopular calls to "get the big issues sorted out".

And referring to United, he said: "I've seen quite a bit of this at the football club.

"If you do difficult things, which we felt that we had to do at Manchester United. We felt like they were the right things to do. But you do become very unpopular for a while.

"Well, I've been very unpopular at Manchester United because we've made lots of changes. But for the better, in my view.

"And I think we're beginning to see some evidence in the football club that that's beginning to pay off."